No confirmed cases of bird flu in Lorain County, but farmers are watching flocks

ELYRIA TWP. — While poultry farms in Southwest Ohio grapple with avian flu, Lorain County farms and public officials are keeping a watchful eye on their flocks. H5N1, or highly pathogenic avian influenza, has yet to reach Lorain County officially, according to the Ohio Department of Agriculture. While Ohio has a high rate of the virus, most cases are in Darke and Mercer counties. Ohio leads the U.S. in highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI cases, with more than 9.1 million birds across 48 commercial flocks affected, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA has also detected HPAI in captive wild ducks and geese in Stark, Muskingum, Ottawa and Mercer counties in the most recent outbreak. Brian Baldridge, Ohio Department of Agriculture director, said did not have a flock infected until Christmas Eve — then saw spikes in central western Ohio. "We're dealing with this," Baldridge said. "We have had some spikes in the past … Unfortunately, it has ramped up." While Ohio currently has the highest number of cases, California, Wisconsin and Iowa have also seen spikes, he said. The flu follows migration patterns for wild birds. "As I look out the window and see geese and birds flying, I look at those as positive carriers," he said. "The poultry industry has done work to make them as bio-secure as possible — these are big buildings, they do their best to keep out any wild birds because that is how this is being spread." The Ohio Department of Natural Resources are presuming reports of dead birds in Auglaize, Erie, Huron, Logan, Lucas, Mercer, Montgomery, Richland, Sandusky, Stark and Warren counties as positive for HPAI, according to its website. It states the virus poses little risk to the public, and Ohioans can report dead or sick wild birds suspected of HPAI at 800-WILDLIFE (945-3543) or wildohio.gov. For backyard farmers like Dan Ketcham, owner of Hidden Acre Farm in Elyria Township, this is not the first time they have been scared, he said. To limit the transmission of diseases, including avian flu, Ketcham limits the number of people coming into contact with his chickens — a 60-strong flock of different breeds allowed free range of his large backyard. He also canceled an order for new chicks for fear of those new birds being contaminated or sick. Chicks are picked up or mailed to the farm, he explained, and he quashed plans to go to a hatchery for another two dozen birds. "You can't test for this until it happens," he said, adding — it is not like the birds run a temperature or show symptoms before they are contagious to other animals. Ketcham and his family began raising chickens for 4H projects, he said, but he started selling the eggs and meat to provide local residents with better, fresher food than they could get at a grocery store. He has yet to lose a bird to avian flu in his eight years running the cottage farm on Murray Ridge Road, but "it can happen," he said. Often raccoons or foxes have posed a more direct threat to his flock. "We just have to be vigilant on it," he said. Hidden Acre Farm offers fresh eggs and chickens raised for meat. Those raised for meat are kept separate from laying hens, he said, and Ketcham wears and uses completely different equipment between the flocks to cut the risk of cross contamination. Kelly Squire, Lorain County Fair Board director and executive board vice president, oversees the senior fair's open class poultry barn and lends a hand with its junior fair counterpart each year. Her family raises show birds, including turkeys chickens, ducks and geese. Squire follows the Ohio Poultry Association's recommendations, and the organization has been hosting webinars as the virus has spread. Echoing Ketcham, she said the best way to prevent exposure is preventing a flock's contact with wild birds, waterfowl and rodents. "That means your backyard flock or show birds need to have a separate water supply instead of letting them drink from a pond that wild waterfowl may stop and take a drink from that same water," she said. Avian influenza is far from a new concern. While the current spike has wiped out nearly 23 million birds nationwide, avian flu killed 50 million in 2015. That outbreak shut most poultry shows and junior fair poultry barns down, Squire said, hoping this year's outbreak would not get to that point. The National Poultry Improvement Plan, run by the Ohio Poultry Association, runs a testing program where a representative will test show birds for pullorum — a disease caused by a Salmonella bacteria — and avian influenza. That certification is not required for all shows, but chickens must be tested for pullorum before being able to show, she said. "We're not too concerned with it because there have not been any cases close to us recently," Squire said of HPAI. "Us, personally, when we go to shows we don't want to be around other sick chickens, and even from a show side, the show personnel should be watching to make sure there's no sick chickens coming in." Some of those shows are across state lines and throughout the year, she said. Her family makes sure to wash their boots and cloths thoroughly when they get home and any poultry that have gone to a show are quarantined from the rest of the flock. The Ohio Department of Agriculture is able to have results of a testing sample from a bird suspected of HPAI within about seven hours of receiving it, Baldridge said. Farmers monitor their livestock and are trained on how to collect samples for diseases, including HPAI — which has a high mortality rate in flocks. He said once a farm is identified as positive by ODA, a secondary test confirms that positive marker and then a depopulation process starts. Those bird carcasses are composted on-site and then the facility is deep cleaned and disinfected and, after a 14-day waiting period and another test for contaminated, can be back to business as usual. He said on average, the process takes between 40 and 75 days from detection to when an industrial farm can be back in production. The strain detected in cattle is different from that found in birds, Baldridge said. The USDA does not show any confirmed cases in cattle in Ohio in the past 30 days. It shows only 38 cases in dairy cows in Nevada and California in the past month. Baldridge stressed the illness is transmitted between animals, not through retail products like eggs or meat. He said if cooked to proper temperatures, eggs and meat remain safe for consumption. Though cases in humans are limited, Lorain County Public Health Director Mark Adams has watched the situation. He said LCPH has been meeting internally about what messaging may look like and what concerns the virus poses. "Everybody's watching it, we're talking about it and every public health department in the state is watching it," he said. The transmission from raw animal food to pets was cause for concern, as this is the first time public health has seen that happen, he said. It has a high mortality rate in small animals, including house pets. The American Veterinary Medical Association noted since the initial outbreak in dairy cattle began in March, dozens of cats have been known to have contracted the virus. In early December, pet food company Northwest Naturals issued a voluntary recall on its raw frozen turkey recipe after a batch tested positive for H5N1. At least one house cat in Oregon died of H5N1 after eating raw frozen pet food. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued a warning on Monarch Raw Pet Food in December. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.